In a bizarre rant on social media earlier this week, a Trinidadian cabinet minister warned neighboring Venezuela that India would come to the rescue of the twin island republic if it ever attacks the country, arguing that New Delhi would “nuke” Venezuela if it dares to be aggressive against his homeland because many Indians live there.

Premising his argument that India would defend Trinidad because of its large Indo population, Junior Minister of Housing Phillip Alexander said he wanted to make it clear that Venezuela is not dealing with President Donald Trump and the US military alone, but also a supportive India as well.

His remarks came in the middle of an increasingly harsh exchange of words in recent weeks between Trinidad and Venezuela as the Caribbean Community nation has thrown its full support behind the US military blockade of Venezuela, allegedly to stem the flow of cocaine and other narcotic drugs to the US mainland. The US military has so far destroyed three go-fast boats in the Caribbean Sea, alleging that their deadly cargo of cocaine and methamphetamine is intended for American cities. Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar has also even offered the country as a base for US attacks against Venezuela if it takes any military action against neighboring Guyana to enforce a decades-old border claim.

In his presentation, Alexander said Trinidad and Tobago has powerful friends. “(Indian President Narendra Modi) and India have us held gently in the palm of his hands, and he will nuke Venezuela. You think it is Trump alone you are dealing with? Touch Trinidad (Vice President Delcy Rodriguez). Have you talked? Modi came here (in July) to show Trinidad and Tobago that one of the most powerful nations in the world has Trinidad in its hands, the ­diaspora. That will hurt you this morning, it will ‘bun’ you in your belly. Trinidad is part of the Indian diaspora. Trinidad has more people of East Indian descent than any other race. Let that ‘bun’ you in your navel,” he said as political watchers and opposition lawmakers reacted with astonishment.

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Amery Browne was so angry and moved that he said he was forced to question Alexander’s sanity and the inaction of the prime minister, asking, “How does a government insult at least three sovereign nations at once? When a deranged minister publicly boasts that because T&T has an Indo majority population, ‘Modi will nuke Venezuela. ’ And of course, to even begin to understand the concept of nuclear fallout, one would have to possess a working and functional brain,” he said.

Several weeks ago, the Nicolas Maduro administration had accused Trinidad of allowing smugglers and mercenaries to enter Venezuela from the country, charges officials have denied.

The war of words has since escalated with Maduro charging that the prime minister had “gone crazy” and her support for the US military translates “to a declaration of war “against his South American nation, while Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez warned that Venezuela would react appropriately against any acts of aggression by Trinidad.

And trying to walk back his bizarre rant, the minister told reporters on Wednesday that he got carried away during his presentation. “It was a live video, and yes, there will be hyperbole in a live video. But the reality is that the US President didn’t just send three warships; he sent an Ohio-class submarine sitting somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. Trinidad is protected from all of the bluster and threats coming from Venezuela. That is what I was trying to say. I think I am going to stay more in my lane after this,” he said.